With a thick sheet of ice covering most of the city, Portland, OR’s die-hard music fans weathered treacherous conditions on Wednesday to see The Wooten Brothers‘ Sweat tour at Revolution Hall. Those who made it to the show were rewarded with a spectacular performance by the astoundingly talented family band.
From the opening notes, the brothers’ intimate connection was obvious not just in the childhood stories they told between songs, but in the music itself. Having grown up playing together, they seemed to communicate telepathically as they executed complex instrumental arrangements without a single hiccup, taking turns to solo while remaining a tight unit and shifting on a dime with pinpoint accuracy. Despite their musical precision, however, they were laid back and comfortable on stage together, each with their own charismatic presence.
After starting the show with a mind-bending display of technical prowess and impeccable groove, the band stopped for introductions, with bassist Victor Wooten—the most famous of the bunch—welcoming the crowd and singing the praises of each brother.
“Y’all think I came up with all this slapping two-handed spin the bass [stuff]. I’m the little brother. I’m just the student. These are my teachers,” Victor said.
He started with keyboardist Joseph Wooten, a.k.a., The Hands of Soul, who has been a member of Steve Miller Band for over 30 years. Next came a tribute to saxophonist Rudy Wooten, who sadly passed away in 2010, though his presence was very much felt throughout the night. Victor then continued introducing guitarist Reggie Wooten, “The first Wooten brother to walk the earth, we call The Teacher. Get it right,” he warned the crowd, “We don’t say teacher, it’s the teach-a. This man taught me how to play. He also taught brother Joseph how to play, so if me or Joseph play something you don’t like…” Victor joked.
Finally, Victor introduced Roy “Futureman” Wooten, known for his trademark inventions the “Drumitar” and the “RoyEI” keyboard. “He played drums on two songs on Whitney Houston‘s first record. You can’t say that,” Victor said. “This man has five Grammy awards. This man invents his own instruments. I think he goes into the future and brings them back.”
Following band introductions, the three brothers left the stage, leaving Victor to entertain the crowd with some solo bass looping. He drew laughter from the crowd with his unique musical humor as he built up a groove one note at a time.
The brothers returned for “Consuela Smiles”, a song inspired by one of their teachers, Consuela Lee, aunt of the filmmaker Spike Lee. Joseph explained the background of the tune after the fact before introducing the song “John Coltrane” by Spike Lee’s late father, composer/bass player Bill Lee. Victor switched to standup bass for the tribute to one of jazz’s greatest heroes, and the brothers sang complex chords in perfect four-part harmonies.
Next, the band treated the Portland audience to a special preview of three songs they wrote together when they were young and recently rediscovered. Victor explained how he was recently contacted by someone who had scouted the group for the TV show Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert back in the ’70s and said he still had the demo cassette their mom had given to him.
“We gonna put this music out soon little by little because we want the world to know Rudy,” Victor said. “But because we love you and because you braved the snow, we’re gonna give you [a] sneak preview of three songs. Journey back into our garage, think ’70s, afros, bell bottoms, platform shoes.”
“Original Converse,” Joseph chimed in. “Afro activated with Afro Sheen.”
The three songs were indeed very ’70s. The first featured the refrain, “Come on let’s dance,” and had a funky pop/disco vibe and impressive vocal harmonies, like the Jackson 5 but Wooten-ified. The second was a bit funkier, with more of an edge. It had similar dance-themed lyrics, with a refrain of, “Get down.” Before the third song, Reggie broke into a tease of Led Zeppelin‘s “Kashmir” and the band followed. He then led his brothers into the final new/old tune, which featured a ripping guitar solo and similarly simple lyrics: “Singing and dancing and laughing and playing, that’s what we like what we like to do.”
The Hands of Soul then had the stage and the audience to himself as he played human jukebox, spontaneously fusing covers of Elton John‘s “Your Song”, Stevie Wonder‘s “My Cherie Amour”, and Silk Sonic‘s “Leave the Door Open”. He then welcomed the rest of the band back to join him on Victor Wooten’s “Hero”, which he elevated with an impressive talk box solo.
To cap off the set, The Wooten Brothers broke out their recent single, “Sweat”, which got the crowd up and dancing. After taking a bow, they returned for an encore comprised of James Brown‘s “Sex Machine”, followed by a quick clinic in various time signatures, and finally a memorable rendition of “Victa” that saw Reggie and Victor take each other’s instruments and spin them around behind their backs in unison in a dazzling display of showmanship.
They may have an unfair advantage being brothers, but The Wooten Brothers are without question one of world’s the tightest and most impressive funk bands. On a night when most of the city remained shut down due to snow, they made braving the potentially dangerous conditions more than worthwhile and delivered a show that Portland will not soon forget.
The Sweat tour continues tonight in Eugene, OR before heading down to California. For a full list of tour dates and to purchase tickets, visit Victor Wooten’s website.